Blergh

Who says no one was traumatized? Carrie grew to become a rather withdrawn and uptight child- especially compared to older sis Laura at the same ages so perhaps she was!

Had to laugh at that Hunter with all those dogs who'd bought this large house in Phoenix with not one but TWO swimming pools- but then tried to sound 'conscientious' by saying he'd opted to NOT grow grass in his yard to avoid using water. Yeah, like those pools would use literal drops in the bucket compared to the exorbitant drain on the aquifer/ Colorado a lawn sprinkler would have used. <sarcasm icon needed>

Bruinsfan, Not an invalid point but perhaps they may have just had Miss Bacall be the adoring, worshipful girlfriend but cast someone else as the cold rejecting wife. Although they may have had to have someone else dub her singing. DeLurker, I would agree but it DID happen. What's also odd is that the performers' two characters started out in the movie as best friends -yet they had absolutely zero chemistry in that regard and THAT was yet another of the movie's fails. Still, at least, Miss Bacall and Miss Day just kept quiet their POVs re the other instead of commenting on this. I will say that regardless of the miscasting of the women performers, Mr. Douglas himself DID do a fairly cathartic and dynamic job in this somewhat biographical movie [NOT his but an actual big band performer].

OK, here are a couple of seasonal OP's (and sorry they're not positive). I dislike both "A Christmas Story" and "Home Alone" having seen each of them once and believing that one time was quite enough for me and am sick of everyone trying to ram it down our collective throats that we HAVE to like these movies or think they're classics. Nope. Not me.

To each their own. IMO, he was a bit annoying and I wasn't sorry he didn't win. However; I don't think he was as bad as some of the racers they've had. Why they let Rob and Amber continue their race instead of instantly disqualifying them after they BRAGGED about sabotaging their colleagues' transport is something I've never forgiven TPTB for and it only after they were OFF that I was willing to watch it again.

Thanks for reminding me of that, Rick! Yes, I have to give benefit's doubt that Stella herself did agree but how their numerous other sibs may view Dolly's POV could be another story (or eight). As for Stella's performance itself? She seemed to truly enjoy playing this well-meaning but somewhat nosy , gossipy character. It must have been with mixed emotions (perhaps even a bit cathartic) to have her (in character) gossiping about her own parents THEN having said parents (especially her father) blatantly call her (in character) on her gossip even though her character seemed to make up with them by the movie's close. I wonder if the bullying family recognized themselves and did they, in fact, stay friends with Dolly and the Partons after adulthood- as per this account? Also, a good touch to have Gerald McRaney depicting her grandfather Reverend Owens who had understandably mixed emotions re Lee Parton but didn't want him (and therefore his adored daughter Avie Lee) to suffer. Funny bit that ,in one of his serious talks with Lee, as God shepherding as he was-he still couldn't quite get the then- youngest boy Randy who ate dirt and worms. Lastly, before I forget. It was somewhat intriguing to have Dolly's well-known lifelong BFF be depicted as a female Boo Radley outcast at the outset (and I have the feeling it wasn't just for dramatic effect that the script had the character admit having gotten used to split lips). I wonder if Miss Ogle could have possibly imagined the ride she'd hitched herself for when she became friends with Dolly and does she look upon her own childhood in the Smokies with as much affection as Miss Parton does ? In any case, I hope she enjoyed that depiction.

I FINALLY watched this on DVR and I have to say I liked this one a great deal. Rick Kitchen, I do think that the Dolly as a child COULD be a brat at times (and definitely tried both her parents' patience to the virtual breaking point) however; for ALL her bragging, she did have a sincere love for her family and a strong passion for music and the beauty that surrounded her. Yes, it may have seemed trite to others her waxing about how the Smokies themselves had inspired her to sing and create songs however, they ARE quite beautiful and awe inspiring and the performer conveyed Miss Parton's genuine love for her homeplace very well. I also have to give kudos to Miss Parton herself for being willing to SHOW some of these flaws in her character as a child and NOT just have her be depicted as a saccharine, angelic, talented Mary Sue moppet. I don't recall her admiting that she HAD gotten angry at God Himself over her baby brother's death as a child, but ,if she had, it's good that she admited that and that she needed to apologize. Also, nice touch that when she DID apologize it was more like an equal friend acknowledging her own flaws to another rather than as a tiny child only doing so because she feared His Wrath if she didn't. Still, as much as I believe her baby brother's death adversely affected her as a child, I couldn't help but wonder how much different her life since then may have been had she had to care for this baby from an early age. As for Jennifer Nettles? It's hard to believe that this was her very first acting job because she did an excellent job as Avie Lee Owens Parton. She was neither a flawless saint nor a doormat merely because she'd had all those children but Miss Nettles showed how she was a passionate, determined person even when she had the heartbreak of losing her youngest child. Also, nice touch that she didn't have any illusions re her flawed husband Lee but had a great passion for him despite this. I like to think that that argument she'd had with Lee with her determined to 'win' that she did what he said she couldn't helped her as much as putting together the title coat. Rick Shroder also did well conveying a complicated flawed but very dedicated father to Dolly and passionate husband to Avie Lee. I'm glad they showed them having a little fun and singing despite all the odds and tragedies they had to endure. Ironic that Miss Nettles and Mr. Shroder were actually ten years older than the people they portrayed yet despite, neither of them having to struggle to literally keep their large family alive on a daily basis , I think they each did a very good job depicting them. Yes, this was by no means a documentary and it's likely Miss Parton's other surviving siblings have different views re these events and their childhoods but I think this was an excellent, moving tribute to their late parents as well as the family and community they grew up in.

It doesn't matter to me how old he is or how he looks, I dislike seeing William Shatner on media simply because he comes across to me as a smug, smarmy bore who's nowhere near as talented or clever as he'd like others to think he is.

Quof and Maharincess, Thanks for your support. You are absolutely correct that I SHOULD have called her on it and gone to management but, alas, I was so stunned and surprised at the happening that it took me a little while to process that this HAD happened and I DID have to zoom to my next errand so I opted to not spend extra time on this. In any case, she wasn't there much longer and, in fact, now that I think of it, that was the LAST time I saw her working at that store . So maybe that cashier pulled that bit of trying to guilt trip another customer for daring to not cheer her on for delaying their transaction so she could waste time with others.

OK, here's a retailer pet peeve: salesclerks who gab a storm with other folks but completely oblivious to the lengthy line of customers behind whomever they're gabbing with. Once, I'd waited a good amount of time whilst a clerk gabbed away with someone long after the purchase was done re nothing to do with it . I didn't say anything before I FINALLY got to the cash register when the clerk said 'Were you in a hurry?' to which I replied ' Yes, I was!' then she said that I needed to learn to not stress about time so I could enjoy my life more. I didn't reply but I wished I'd told her that if she agreed not to lecture me about how to live my life, I'd agree not to lecture HER re how to do her job re paying attention to ALL customers' needs (yes, I've worked in customer service).

OK, since Kirk Douglas just celebrated his 99th [!] Birthday , I thought I might bring up this ironic clash from the past! WAY back in 1950, Mr. Douglas starred in "Young Man With a Horn" about a rising big band trumpet player who, amongst other challenges, had to suffer the flak of his cold, rejecting wife played by Lauren Bacall but eventually found his way back from the gutter thanks to the eager, worshipful support of a young singer played by Doris Day. So where's the ironic clash? Almost as soon as the film was released and from that point onwards, Mr. Douglas and Miss Day each have snipped out how cold and distant the other was towards them. HOWEVER; from as far back as Miss Bacall's teens in NYC, Mr. Douglas and Miss Bacall had been great friends and would remain so until her death last year. Point being, it might have helped the movie had the two actresses switched roles.

"Protocol" with Goldie Hawn playing a ditzy waitress who literally bumps into a Middle Eastern emir and becomes the then-burgeoning cable news outlets' media darling while unwittingly becoming a State Department pawn. Yeah, it's silly and has a clunker of a speech by Miss Hawn's character in the end but it's somewhat mindlessly sitcom funny most of the time AND it gives a good [barely] parodying encapsulation of just HOW these news outlets hyped things back then!

Agree Danny Franks! I ,for one, like to think the latter published work was just a flawed prototype - not just of Atticus but of every character within the classic "TKAM" and the book itself. As for the FINAL Atticus, he was great at encouraging the kids to think for themselves and learn to stand up for themselves even in the face of incredible opposition! The ONLY downside of Atticus in the book is him foisting that pill Aunt Alexandra on Scout for the rest of her childhood knowing how little they respected or liked each other. Even that, though, was with the good intention of giving her a familial female role model (albeit flawed).

I'm not sure if this is for providers or users but: why do so many folks using this seem unable to accept that there are others with differing points of view . I mean, to give a somewhat hypothetical example, it's not enough for 50 thousand folks to click that they like something but instead being grateful to those who liked it , focus and rant , because ONE person clicks they dislike a poster's YouTube video of their uncle performing "The Star Spangled Banner" with his armpits doesn't mean that that person who didn't like it was an unpatriotic, infidel subhuman! Sheesh!

Spartan Girl, Thanks for starting this topic! It's good to have a positive topic to help counterbalance when cynicism seems on the verge of overwhelming. From 'classic' literature, I'd like to nominate Mr. and, especially 'Marmee' March of "Little Women" for best parents. True, they often DID stress self-sacrifice more than might have been for their daughters' benefits. However; they ALWAYS encouraged their daughters to make the most of their lives regardless of whether they opted to get married or were determined to make their own ways in the world following a dream. Back in the late 1860's, this was a VERY enlightened approach re parenting!

I agree that too many parents are oblivious to their kids' behavior so they can keep doing their own socializing uninterrupted. This brings to mind something that happened some years ago. I was already long since grown and dining with my own mother when we witnessed the spectacle of a small child taking spaghetti from his plate, climbing down from his seat, running to an empty seat on the other side of the large table THEN hanging the spaghetti strands on the chair rail. The thing is that he did this again and again and again over the course of at least twenty minutes and the ENTIRE time his parents didn't so much as turn their heads from their own conversation with their chums to look in his original direction much less attempt to correct him even once and ONLY when they noticed US laughing did they bother to turn their heads and put a stop to his antics. Yes, he was making a small mess but he was being quiet AND it was only because his parents weren't paying the slightest attention to him that he decided to find something else to do. I thought his parents were VERY lucky he didn't attempt to run out of the restaurant to be hit by traffic or have a bad person meet him which COULD have happened during those twenty minutes. I can recall my parents taking me to places as a small child and even when they were gabbing away with their friends, they ALWAYS would turn their heads in my direction at least every few seconds to make sure I was okay and not getting into mischief. Just as I wish more folks would stay single, I wish more folks would stay childless.

While I agree with Cathy in "EOE" was evil, I've often wondered what kind of upbringing SHE had had and why she was so eager to kill her own parents and had no regrets about innocent folks being framed for the double-murder.

I didn't get why Aurora stayed in close touch Emma's 'friend' (who always struck me more as a female Eddie Haskell rather than a genuine friend to Emma) for many years after Emma's death even not being put out that she'd wanted to care for ONLY Melanie but not her brothers -yet had no problems having her hapless son-in-law Flap just drift away from her grandkids. I mean Emma's 'friend' was even LESS of a positive influence on the grandkids' lives than their negligent deadbeat. Yes, the late Miranda Richardson did as good a job as anyone could have re depicting the 'friend' but even she couldn't make her likable or sympathetic. I'd have thought Aurora would have just developed an indifference to her instead of wanting to keep her around. correction

Let's not forget Jane Eyre's guardians from infancy onward. First there's her legal guardian Aunt Reed who instantly hates her as a baby for having been the apple of her soon-to-be-dead husband's eye whilst Uncle Reed had been indifferent to their own offspring- and ONLY keeps Jane due to her dying husband compelling her to promise her to care for their orphaned niece. Then she spends the girl's entire childhood openly favoring her OWN bratty son even to the point of locking her in the Red Room (the book's start) for refusing to admit the misdeed the boy was trying to frame her for AND for not 'apologizing' to the boy. Of course, when THAT doesn't break Jane, she sends her off to Lowood School and gives the sadistic headmaster extra ammo to pick on Jane even MORE. Lastly, she has the grown Jane summoned to her OWN deathbed JUST to curse her one last time (and fess up to her origins of hating her) as well as pathetically clinging onto her rotten son having NOT ruined the family but projecting ALL her hatred and frustrations for how her own life turned out on Jane. Oh and then Lowood's Mr. Brocklehurst does HIS best to break Jane even ordering all the other students to treat Jane like a leper and being oblivious to the plague outbreak at his school and doing nothing to get treatment for Jane or her doomed friend Helen. I can't help but wonder if the Red Room as well as Aunt Reed as well as Mr. Brocklehurst may have been based on own incidents and people on Miss Bronte's life.

Same here- and I REALLY hate how bookstores (independent and chains) are becoming as scarce as hens' teeth. I can remember when EVERY mall and commercial block in my city had at least TWO bookstores to choose from but now that's about all there is in my entire city -suburbs included. I know how to surf for reading material but I like being able to hold it in my hands and perusing it a bit before purchasing it. Also, where else do kids get encouraged to seek out books (and knowledge in general) on their own as much as bookstores? Sadly, even the chains that hang on are gutting out HUGE reading sections JUST to have 'Net junk to sell. So let me join your wake Maharincess.

Who will Tom Hanks be able to dance with on oversized piano keys with from now on ? RIP, Mr. Loggia. I hope you've had your mind restored after these last five desolate years.

Favorite Episode? Season 1 Ep, 16- "Fears" because it showed a great depth to Phil who had a genuine claustrophobia re that crawl space and after his fails trying to find the 'treasure' , finally had NO choice but to go in there to rescue Luke from being stuck and burned by the pipes. True, it was a bit much he'd sent his son to do a 'man's job' instead of going in there in the first place. However; I liked how he was shown forcing himself to face that fear to rescue his son even if he never wanted to get into a tight, windowless spot again AND he stayed in character as a goofy but not useless dad. Least Fave ? Season Four Ep. 21- "Career Day" Not only have I always considered Phil's rival to be too snotty and arrogant to be humorous but I hated that when he interrupted and disrupted Phil's pretaped 'show and tell' , the teacher made NO attempt to tell him to wait his turn or stop. It would have been one thing had the teacher been suddenly called out of the classroom for something and at THAT point Gill blew Phil's presentation out of the water but I thought it was incredibly lame and unrealistic that a teacher would just let one parent overwhelm another's presentation without making even the slightest objection.

I guess the kids could also argue that CHOCOLATE is a bean (or starts out as one) so they might as well as gorge themselves on it even more than baked beans!

I can excuse those under who are five years old and under (or have that mental age) but otherwise, I agree.

While I certainly don't like the idea of Haley (or anyone else) becoming a 'co-cheater' knowing Andy's engaged, I'm a bit puzzled why her parents and everyone else has consistently blown off her more destructive habits of drinking, pot smoking, partying and having no real ambition to do anything else but sponge off her family since getting expelled from college. All anyone has done is make empty threats (Claire) or given her a look when she got caught or told on herself. I mean a few 'slips' here and there re sobriety can be humorous but letting someone consistently do this (and enabling them) without any kind of consequence is not funny nor should be encouraged.